She was given many other awards for her life's work, including the world's largest humanitarian award, the £1m Conrad N Hilton Humanitarian Prize, in 2001.

Princess Alexandra said she was "privileged" to have known the Roedean and Oxford-educated Dame Cicely.

She described her as "a very remarkable human being who will be long remembered for all her pioneering work in palliative care and, as patron of St Christopher's Hospice".

Actress Sheila Hancock, a vice-president of St Christopher's, said the hospice had helped her look after her first husband when he was ill with cancer.

"After he died, I got involved with Dame Cicely's work and the hospice, and we lectured together on several occasions. She was a wonderful person and I was deeply fond of her," she said.

Chief executive of the hospice Barbara Munroe said: "Dame Cicely's vision and work has transformed the care of the dying and the practice of medicine in the UK and throughout the world. She is an inspiration to us all."